These words do not appear in our collection of the worst pearls heard from the mouths of presidents or members of federations and sports leagues during the parliamentary commission of inquiry carried out in recent weeks, and yet… To justify the end of rainbow jerseys -sky in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, supposed to give both a spotlight to the fight against homophobia and a kick in the train of those who peddle it on the pitches and in the stands, the director of LFP Arnaud Rouger spoke of his fear of giving the impression of “promoting homosexuality”.
These words did not fail to provoke a reaction, starting with Sabrina Sebaihi, the green rapporteur of this commission, who was quick to denounce the “homophobic remarks” of number 2 of the LFP. But she is not the only one. Indeed, according to information from 20 minutes, the Rouge Direct collective and the STOP homophobia association filed a complaint on Tuesday against Arnaud Rouger for “public insult towards a group of people because of their sexual orientation. »
For this, proof according to them of the merits of their initiative, they mandated the office of the tenor of the bar William Bourdon, specialized in the defense of public liberties and the fight against discrimination. “We are very happy that they agreed to represent us,” says Julien Pontes, spokesperson for the Rouge Direct collective. This idea of promoting homosexuality are words that we usually find in the mouths of Putin, Orban or Zemmour, of all those who trample the rights and freedoms of LGBT people. We are taking a further step in the trivialization of anti-LGBT hatred. The choice of this term by Arnaud Rougé is very serious, he must explain himself to a judge. »
“It’s an expression too many,” assures the firm
Contacted by us, the lawyer and collaborator of Me Bourdon, Vincent Brengarth, explains to us why his firm agreed to represent Rouge Direct and Stop Homophobia. “For us it is an important fight and we will follow them until the end. It is considered that, in this complaint filed for homophobic insult, the facts are characterized and that they should lead to prosecution by the public prosecutor. The very idea that there can be a promotion of homosexuality is already homophobic in itself and constitutes outrageous terms of contempt,” he assures.
“The resumption by Mr. Arnaud Rouger of a theory – unfortunately too widespread in the world of football but also in the mouths of notoriously homophobic political leaders in France and abroad – according to which homosexuality would be able to spread, such an illness, is of unprecedented seriousness, warn the lawyers in a press release to be published this Wednesday and to which had access 20 minutes. It is also the expression too many, revealing the attitude of the federations which refuse to fight against homophobia, but even more contribute to the phenomenon through their own public expression. This cannot be tolerated.”
“Not only has the LFP given in to those who every season refuse to wear this jersey and therefore support the fight against homophobia, but it also takes on their semantics. The promotion of homosexuality, but what does that mean? Nothing, it’s bullshit from the extreme right,” fumes Julien Pontes. This complaint is only the latest episode in a long series of head-on oppositions between the LFP and Rouge Direct, which has continually in recent years pointed out the lack of courage of the League on the question of homophobia in football. For its part, the LFP no longer wants to deal with a collective that it accuses of militant extremism and prefers to turn to other associations such as Foot Ensemble, led by Yohann Lemaire, himself at war with Julien Pontes by interposed media.
Rouge Direct draws the curtain after seven years of struggle
Generally speaking, in recent years, Rouge Direct has made a lot of enemies, including a lot of homophobic lowbrows who have found nothing better to do than to threaten its members with death on social networks after the episode of singing during the PSG-OM Classic, at the Parc des Princes, last September. On the advice of his lawyer, Julien Pontes, who regrets a lack of support from the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castera, has resigned himself to stopping the activities of Rouge direct, a collective that he himself described as “the launcher of ‘alert’ against homophobia in football. Not without filing a complaint, in his name, against the attacks his collective has been the target of in recent weeks.
“I would have preferred that the minister made a report to the public prosecutor but she did not want to, despite the very serious facts that these threats represent,” he explains. Today, while a colleague from another association fighting homophobia was visited at his home by a PSG supporter, I am on my guard as soon as I leave my house. It is no longer possible to continue under these conditions.” If some criticize Rouge Direct for a sometimes excessive tone, as when it denounces the “pinkwashing” shown by the LFP in its fight against homophobia, it works concretely in this direction as we recently demonstrated in a previous article, it is unacceptable that such a collective is forced to close shop for fear of losing its skin.
However, if the two cases are not directly linked, by deciding to abandon the rainbow jersey on the grounds that “the distinction between fighting homophobia and promoting homosexuality (…) is tenuous” , the LFP and its Director General give, according to Me Brengarthe, “voluntarily credit to these people, without judging the very questionable relevance of their position”. While participating – involuntarily or not, it will be up to justice to decide – in the liberalization of nauseating and homophobic speech which society in general, and football in particular, would do well without.